Snails can be found in gardens, in
ponds and even in the sea. They
belong to a group of animals with a
soft body called molluscs (mollusks) which are related to oysters,
clams, and other shellfish. Characteristically they have soft,
unsegmented bodies. Normally, their soft bodies are protected by a hard shell.
The scientific name for the garden snail is Helix aspersa. It is a gastropod which
in latin means, gastro for stomach and pod for foot or just "a belly
footed animal". The body
of the snail is long, moist and slimy.
It has a shell to protect its
soft body. When the snail is disturbed,
it simply withdraws or pulls itself back
into its shell. The snail also retreats into its shell
and seals the entrance in dry weather to protect its body from
drying up. A snail is most active at night and on cloudy days. It does not like
the sunshine very much. During very cold weather or winter, it hibernates
in the ground.

Snails have different shaped shells. It can be a single shell that is rounded, spiral high
and pointed or it can be flat.

Some people keep snails in aquariums together with their fish.
However, they must make sure that they control the number because snails reproduce rapidly !!

Snails do not like hot and dry conditions. They like it moist or humid and not too bright.
You can collect some snails and put them into a transparent container. Put some leaves in it,
keep it moist and you can observe and see how a snail moves and also its mouth part.

Snails can live up to 5 to 10 years. Some have been known to live up to 15 years.